Why Flutter is the Best Choice for Digital Banking Apps

Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, with almost all of our daily activities now being carried out online with the help of apps. Nowadays, you can find apps for almost anything, and online banking hasn't escaped the switch.

Digital Banking is becoming increasingly popular as it is starting to replace traditional banks. That being said, developing a banking app is a lengthy process that requires a lot of effort and dedication, especially when it comes to deciding on a framework or software to use.

But one thing's for sure: Companies and firms are looking for safer, quicker, and cheaper ways of getting their apps online. For that, having an efficient way to develop an app is key. And this is where Flutter comes in.

Flutter is a development app that has started to gain a lot of popularity. It's being used by several famous FinTech companies, and it's no surprise why. So, let's take a look at what Flutter is and why it's so popular amongst developers.

What is Flutter?

Think of Flutter as a key to developing and establishing your own mobile application. It is an Open-Source Development Kit that is used for app development across different platforms. Created in 2015 by Google and finally released in 2018, Flutter has quickly jumped through the ranks and has become the most popular framework application out there.

Flutter allows developers to create native-quality desktop, web, and smartphone apps from one source code base. It is a powerful tool used for developing amazing apps across platforms that display native code on any device and operating system. Flutter is accessible with iPhone, iPad, Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows, among other platforms.

How Does Flutter Work?

Here's where it gets a little technical, so bear with us. Flutter is structured as a multi-layered system, which includes the framework, engine, and platform-specific embedders. Google's Dart focuses on objects and programming language, which is employed to develop Flutter applications. The core of the Flutter engine is primarily coded in C/C++, while the Skia library serves as the foundation for Flutter's graphic functionalities.

A lot of Flutter's efficiency advantages are built on Dart. It supports ahead-of-time (AOT) and just-in-time (JIT) compilation which focuses on different aspects of the app's development. AOT code is compiled into smaller-scale native code, resulting in programs that start up more rapidly and perform better.

JIT enables Flutter's hot refresh feature, which shortens the development period. Dart now generates straight-to-native ARM or Intel x64 code, reducing performance gaps between Flutter apps and native programs that rely on real-time intermediate code translations. Flutter's design makes it easy to expand features or support more users, making it highly extendable and adaptable.

Advantages of Using Flutter

Now that we've learned all about Flutter and how it works let's look at what makes the framework so beneficial for developers and why it's at the top:

Cheaper to produce your own applications

Everyone loves cheaper alternatives. After all, if you can end up spending less to produce more, who wouldn't want to take up that offer? Flutter is an Open-Source framework, which means you are essentially using codes that already exist rather than having to create your own. Through this, a lot less time and effort is spent trying to create an application. This, in turn, reduces the price spent on developing apps.

More efficient app development

Flutter comes with its own set of services and tools aimed at making cross-platform mobile app design more efficient. Being able to depend on one source code base and UI framework for app development across platforms decreases the effort required to generate editions of an app for iOS and Android.

The rich widget collection in Flutter also provides developers with fast access to ready-made functionality, decreasing total writing effort. Obviously, reduced coding time equals lower development expenses. Flutter's autonomous hot reload functionality is one of its most essential advantages for saving development time. Hot reload, which depends on JIT compilation, as we mentioned earlier, accelerates the execution of code changes.

With the help of hot reload, developers can test out features in real-time without having to shut down applications for the public.
Consequently, programmers can test improvements and editions more rapidly, as well as correct errors. As a consequence, both initial apps and changes are released in less time.

Greater Scalability

Developers need to be able to improve functionality or expand an application's consumer base without compromising it. And Flutter is designed for that purpose. Its server is powered by Google's Firebase application, which was designed for scalability.

Firebase delivers immediate database changes, which helps to guarantee that information syncs between clients as fast as possible. Firebase additionally optimizes and minimizes the number of changes required for synchronization; thus, making changes to the app has little effect on the app's speed.

Popular FinTechs That Use Flutter

Flutter is making waves within the FinTech sector, and its efficiency is a standout factor in why it is used by large companies. Let's take a look at some of the companies that make use of Flutter's framework:

Nubank

Nubank is a Brazilian virtual bank that provides a variety of financial products and services, such as loans, credit cards, and savings accounts. They utilize Flutter and its services for developing their smartphone application, which provides their clients with a straightforward and easy-to-use interface, ensuring customers have a great experience.

Google Pay

Google Pay is arguably the most prominent mobile banking app, which was created with Flutter's multi-platform development features. With Flutter, Google Pay was able to construct its application faster, with an attractive and easy-to-use user interface, excellent performance, and safety features. Flutter also guarantees that the program runs smoothly on iOS as well as Android devices.

Xianyu

Xianyu is a well-known e-commerce software created by Alibaba. It offers recycling, giving, and renting alongside the standard buy-sell choice. At present, the app is powered by a hybrid Flutter-native backend.

Velmie

Velmie is a digital banking software solutions company that was the first to offer white-label Flutter applications for its customers. In 2023 company issued stats with over 20 fitechs worldwide have been using its Flutter applications.

Conclusion

As technology continues to make large strides in every aspect of our lives, more and more apps are surfacing the web, which replaces things that we used to do ourselves. Banking is another industry that has revolutionized because of the introduction of technology.

Nowadays, we can find apps for everything, including banking. Flutter has been at the center of several mobile wallet apps like Google Pay and Nubank, and it has made app development a lot simpler. Programmers can now make their own apps by spending almost 40% less resources, and that's all possible thanks to Open-Source development apps like Flutter.

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